I AM LEGEND

[OOBradm]

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: OOBradm
I really thought they were going to humanize the vampires more. When Will Smith trapped the female vampire and the male came out in the sunlight and screamed at Will, I felt this was done intentionally to make the viewers realize that these vampires are still people. And then, in the next scene, Will is talking into his webcam or something and says something along the lines of "Today, an infected individual deliberately walked out into direct sunlight. Clearly, the infected are losing all human behavior-like qualities and are truly deteriorating to animals" I thought this was the director foreshadowing that at the end of the movie we would find out that Will was wrong and that they were, in fact, just as human-like as we are, and not deteriorating like Will said. But they never did anything with this and the infected remained soul-less monsters. Kinda sad.

I don't know how the film progressed, but a main part of the novel was to flip the whole scenario of who the monster is. There is a subset of those surviving that have managed to temporarily postpone the effects of the disease, but still have some of it's side-effects, like not being able to go out in the sunlight for anything but a short period of time and sleeping during the day. These people especially retain their humanity, and Smith's character becomes the monster, like vampires to us. Instead of vampires prowling on us at night, Neville (Smith's character) prowls on these people while they sleep killing indiscriminantly and becoming a source of terror for them. Neville is finally killed, and he became a "legend" among those infected with the disease.

I read the novel as well. I think that when I saw the scenes I described I got excited because I felt like that was the first part in the "flipping" of who the monster really was. But it never happened. Which, confuses me a little, because are we actually supposed to believe the male vampire actually was just stupid and walked out into the sun?

 

[OOBradm]

Originally posted by: TheChort
oh, and one more thing...

How do two human beings headbutt a car and cause it to flip over?

There was an awful lot of headbutting in the movie. just because the vampires have faster heart rates and UV sensitive skin doesn't mean their heads turn into iron balls...

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: OOBradm
I read the novel as well. I think that when I saw the scenes I described I got excited because I felt like that was the first part in the "flipping" of who the monster really was. But it never happened. Which, confuses me a little, because are we actually supposed to believe the male vampire actually was just stupid and walked out into the sun?

Sounds like the movie really jumped the shark.

I figured you probably read the novel, but since it is a spoiler thread I also figured I'd post the summary for those who hadn't. This way they could see what the movie should've tried to portray.

 

[TheChort]

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: OOBradm
I read the novel as well. I think that when I saw the scenes I described I got excited because I felt like that was the first part in the "flipping" of who the monster really was. But it never happened. Which, confuses me a little, because are we actually supposed to believe the male vampire actually was just stupid and walked out into the sun?

Sounds like the movie really jumped the shark.

I figured you probably read the novel, but since it is a spoiler thread I also figured I'd post the summary for those who hadn't. This way they could see what the movie should've tried to portray.

Actually, I stopped reading your post as soon as I realized it was about the book
I still want to read it one day.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: sandorski
There's a movie I saw made in the '60's that sounds a lot like this. I haven't seen I Am Legend yet, but it all seems vaguely similar to that other movie. Assuming that the '60's movie was the original: In that movie the last guy character survived the plague because he was made Immune to the plague. Years or months(don't recall timeframe) before the Plague hit, he was bit by a bat while in some cave somewhere that was infected with an early strain of the virus/bacteria that eventually became the Plague. It was a pretty cool movie in its' own right and would be worth watching, very dark and very creepy.

Omega Man?

I don't remember the title. All I recall of that movie was the plague breaking out, his wife dying, him not taking her to the official burial site(mass graves and bodies burned before burial), and she showed up later that night at the door wanting to suck his blood. Eventually he was the last one left except the few blood suckers which he often hunted during the day. I think he found a woman that wasn't as affected by the disease and he tried curing her, don't really recall how the movie ended though as I watched nearly 30 years ago.

 

[dawp]

Originally posted by: sandorski

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: sandorski
There's a movie I saw made in the '60's that sounds a lot like this. I haven't seen I Am Legend yet, but it all seems vaguely similar to that other movie. Assuming that the '60's movie was the original: In that movie the last guy character survived the plague because he was made Immune to the plague. Years or months(don't recall timeframe) before the Plague hit, he was bit by a bat while in some cave somewhere that was infected with an early strain of the virus/bacteria that eventually became the Plague. It was a pretty cool movie in its' own right and would be worth watching, very dark and very creepy.

Omega Man?

I don't remember the title. All I recall of that movie was the plague breaking out, his wife dying, him not taking her to the official burial site(mass graves and bodies burned before burial), and she showed up later that night at the door wanting to suck his blood. Eventually he was the last one left except the few blood suckers which he often hunted during the day. I think he found a woman that wasn't as affected by the disease and he tried curing her, don't really recall how the movie ended though as I watched nearly 30 years ago.

there's two of them, The Last Man on Earth with Vicent Price from 1964 and Omega Man Charlton Heston from 1971

 

[Skunkwourk]

damn, 76.5 million

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071216/ap_en_mo/box_office

 

[MartyMcFly3]

Originally posted by: m0mentary
damn, 76.5 million

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071216/ap_en_mo/box_office

Where there's a WILL there's a way!

 

[SirStev0]

Originally posted by: timosyy
Batman trailer made it worth it.

Film itself -- I thought it was pretty good until the sudden copout ending. I mean that safe he stuffed the woman & kid in is closable from the inside right? Get inside, wait for baddies to break through, toss grenade, close door. Good character development through the movie though, audience can really see how living alone has worn him down.

agree... pretty good flick... kinda lame ending... didn't like the religious junk (reminded me too much of signs ... swing away: look at the butterfly)

but overall good... trailer def made me cream though.

 

[Fraggable]

I thought it was ok, not the best movie Will's ever made. I didn't even know there was a book so I have nothing to compare it to, but my overall impression is that the plot wasn't 100% solid and some things seemed like we should have known what the incident meant but there wasn't quite enough information to figure it out.

When the woman showed up I was thoroughly confused, she would have had to take a ferry over or something which it never indicated she did, and she would have had to do it on the way out too.

I hated the way the zombies were like super-durable beings, they never said the virus turned them into stronger creatures, if anything that kind of thing would have weakened them.

And last, I can't say I agree with the PG-13 rating. I thought it should have been R. If I took a 13-year old to it I would have taken them out at the first suspenseful encounter with a zombie. There was a girl sitting in front of me who was about 15 and she was obviously not enjoying it and I kept wondering why they didnt leave.

 

[thecrecarc]

8/10. The main parts that were disappointing is the religious subtext of this movie, and the lame ending. Serisouly, why didnt he throw that super awesome grenade and then duck into the hiding place with the others? And how did the woman and the kid get past all those zombies? i doubt they drove to the shelter in 1 day. Otherwise, the rest was a good movie.

 

[Fingolfin269]

I liked it but did have a problem with the dog just randomly running into a dark building. After all, 95% of it's life was lived in a world where dark = bad. He even shows he knows this early in the movie when the alarm goes off and Will Smith just sits there.

I watched it in an IMAX theater and it was great. The Batman preview was attached as well.

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: TheChort

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: OOBradm
I read the novel as well. I think that when I saw the scenes I described I got excited because I felt like that was the first part in the "flipping" of who the monster really was. But it never happened. Which, confuses me a little, because are we actually supposed to believe the male vampire actually was just stupid and walked out into the sun?

Sounds like the movie really jumped the shark.

I figured you probably read the novel, but since it is a spoiler thread I also figured I'd post the summary for those who hadn't. This way they could see what the movie should've tried to portray.

Actually, I stopped reading your post as soon as I realized it was about the book
I still want to read it one day.

its short, i think 150 pages or so, you could do it in a couple of hours easily. thats about all it took me this weekend (i read the book as i dont intend to see the movie until it hits dvd)

its a good read

 

[TheVrolok]

Loved the dog. Will Smith was solid. The movie overall was entertaining but the ending was a bit abrupt and lackluster. It got a bit preachy toward the end. Also, the quasi then lack of development of the "head zombie" was a bit frustrating. I plan on reading the book.

 

[Corbett]

Not enough action.
Needed less science scenes.
Ending sucked.
B+

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: dawp

Originally posted by: sandorski

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: sandorski
There's a movie I saw made in the '60's that sounds a lot like this. I haven't seen I Am Legend yet, but it all seems vaguely similar to that other movie. Assuming that the '60's movie was the original: In that movie the last guy character survived the plague because he was made Immune to the plague. Years or months(don't recall timeframe) before the Plague hit, he was bit by a bat while in some cave somewhere that was infected with an early strain of the virus/bacteria that eventually became the Plague. It was a pretty cool movie in its' own right and would be worth watching, very dark and very creepy.

Omega Man?

I don't remember the title. All I recall of that movie was the plague breaking out, his wife dying, him not taking her to the official burial site(mass graves and bodies burned before burial), and she showed up later that night at the door wanting to suck his blood. Eventually he was the last one left except the few blood suckers which he often hunted during the day. I think he found a woman that wasn't as affected by the disease and he tried curing her, don't really recall how the movie ended though as I watched nearly 30 years ago.

there's two of them, The Last Man on Earth with Vicent Price from 1964 and Omega Man Charlton Heston from 1971

Probably Last Man on Earth. Will be watching that movie later and will know in a few hours if it was or not. Recently saw the ending of Omega Man, so I know for sure it wasn't that one.

 

[Tweak155]

Originally posted by: thirtythree

Originally posted by: chuckywang
Man, the scene the dog died was such a sad scene and I can't stop thinking about it.

Question though: What was it about the butterfly tattoo on her neck that made him discover the cure was in his blood? I thought he already tried that route to find the cure.

It wasn't his blood, it was the blood of the specimen he had down there -- or rather, the stuff he injected into her. They realized it worked when they went down to the basement and saw she was beginning to stabilize/regain pigment. The butterfly tattoo reminded him of his daughter (actually, it seems like he flashed back to his daughter then saw the tattoo, but I'm not really sure how that works unless it really was "supernatural"). It seems that's what motivated him to sacrifice himself.

I think he saw the formation of a butterfly in the breaking glass first (at least I did). Then he went into that dream or whatever, THEN saw the neck.

 

[aceO07]

I haven't seen the movie, but it seems like it got changed a lot from the book. If they weren't going to keep the same basic plot as the book, they should have changed the name...

 

[txrandom]

Originally posted by: johngute
i want to know how the deer, lions, anna and ethan got on the island?
the bridges where blown and the tunnels where flooded

Deer and lions can swim. I've seen white tail deer swim long distances across rivers.

Anna and Ethan could have used a boat.

 

[txrandom]

The move was pretty cool, but it ended way to soon without wrapping anything up. I'm not a fan of the random coincidences like Anna showing up at the last minute to save Will.

 

[Cobalt]

Fell asleep during the last 40 minutes, was too drunk/high. Wasn't that exciting, wasted my money.

 

[Svnla]

I saw the movie earlier today and while it was decent, it had so many holes in the story.

1. It has been a few years and Will has a spanking new <all other vehicles in the movie are dusty and dirty> Ford GT to drive FULL SPEED ahead in NYC streets with all the trees/weeds and detoriation. Ohkay that was very smart.

2. I thought the grenade would take a few seconds to blow off, not spontaneous.

3. How do the water and electricity still running?

4. Hard to believe that besides Will, the lady and the kid, and the small group in Vermont <how did the lady knows about them and Will didn't> are the only ones survive in the WHOLE world.

5. Please stop the barechest Will scene <see I Robot for his shower scene>.

6. Why the guy that set the trap didn't jump out and finish Will when he was fighting with the mutant dogs <the sun no longer bother them>.

 

[lokiju]

Not that this post will add much to this thread being this far in but...


For starters, WTF call it "I Am Legend" after the book when it had not one single part from the book in the movie?

Book vs Movie complaints/gripes aside.

The movie felt lacking, like it had all the elements there to be an awesome movie, but it wasn't pulled off.

And whats up with the happy ending? The books ending was better IMO.

 

[thirtythree]

Originally posted by: savoyboy
1. It has been a few years and Will has a spanking new <all other vehicles in the movie are dusty and dirty> Ford GT to drive FULL SPEED ahead in NYC streets with all the trees/weeds and detoriation. Ohkay that was very smart.
-Maybe he drove through the same street every day and he knows all the bumps and turns?

As for the shiny car, he probably had his choice of cars, and I'm sure he had time to wash it now and then. Hunting zombies all the time would get old.

3. How do the water and electricity still running?
-If you didn't catch it, he had his own generator.

I also thought I heard a pump of some sort turn on when he used the shower.

4. Hard to believe that besides Will, the lady and the kid, and the small group in Vermont <how did the lady knows about them and Will didn't> are the only ones survive in the WHOLE world.
-Jesus told her

I think Will also knew about the group in Vermont but didn't believe they had ever been established or had survived. The lady "believed" that they were alive.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: thecrecarc
8/10. The main parts that were disappointing is the religious subtext of this movie, and the lame ending. Serisouly, why didnt he throw that super awesome grenade and then duck into the hiding place with the others? And how did the woman and the kid get past all those zombies? i doubt they drove to the shelter in 1 day. Otherwise, the rest was a good movie.

Actually she does say that if they leave by a certain time that they could make it in one day.

Also, he can't just throw the grenade and hide. That would require him leaving the glass door open.

 

[Crafty35a]

Originally posted by: thecrecarc
And how did the woman and the kid get past all those zombies? i doubt they drove to the shelter in 1 day.

She specifically said that they could get there in one day. Which is perfectly reasonable, Vermont is not all that far from New York.

Originally posted by: Svnla

6. Why the guy that set the trap didn't jump out and finish Will when he was fighting with the mutant dogs <the sun no longer bother them>.

Huh? What makes you think the sun no longer bothers them?